No. 1 is at a sleepover, no. 2 and I just finished watching March of the Penguins, and I realized I hadn’t had any tea yet today! No breakfast really either, just a bit of fruit. The BF is responsible for this pick. I thought he’d go for the Maple Bacon, but this was his vote.

I can definitely smell the raisins in the packet, and something like buttered toast too.

After steeping the aroma is unbelievable—exactly like buttered cinnamon raisin toast! I’m not sure how 52 Teas accomplished this but I suspect it wasn’t straightforward. I detect a floral note underlying the aroma. The tea is a clear reddishy-orangy-brown, so the raisins, cinnamon and whatever else is in here to give this flavor isn’t clouding up the works.

Now, understanding that this is one of my elderly 52 Teas collection and that I had apparently tasted it before because the packet was opened, though ziplocked (it seems I didn’t write a note about it when I last tasted it), I’ll say this—I taste toast, I taste butter. I taste just enough raisin and cinnamon so that it isn’t plain buttered toast. Of all the flavors, I probably get the cinnamon the least, which is surprising. And I am not really tasting the tea, except through the floral note mentioned earlier. But you don’t really drink a tea like this for the tea, do you?

I have to give it high marks for living up to its name so well. I could use a touch more cinnamon, but who is to say whether there was more when this was fresh? The fact that it has held most of its unusual flavor merits points, too. The only downside, and the reason I didn’t rate it higher, is that there’s an aspect to the flavor that makes me worry that the novelty will wear off really fast with this one. There’s a fine line with the floral note between conjuring the buttered cinnamon raisin toast experience and something artificial tasting.

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I’ve updated this bio as it’s been a couple of years since I “started getting into” tea. It’s now more accurate to say that I was obsessed with tea for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it, and I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

Personal biases: I much prefer to drink tea without additives such as milk and sugar. If a tea needs additives to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’m going to rate it high. The exception is chai, which I make on the stove top using a recipe I found here on Steepster. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs into the harder stuff, but once I learned how to make a decent cup of tea they became far less appealing to me. That said, I’m not entirely a purist, and I enjoy a good flavored tea, particularly flavored blacks.

I like all kinds of tea depending on time of day, mood, and the amount of time I have to pay attention to preparation.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. I’m revising them slightly to make them less granular as I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas against other similar versions. So I rate Earl Greys, for example, against other Earl Greys, rather than against all teas. If something rates very high with me, though, it probably means it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is; will keep this stocked until the cows come home

90-94 First rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Excellent; likely to become a favorite, will likely buy more

70-79 Very good; would enjoy again, might buy again if in the mood for this particular one or a better, similar version not available